Letters to the editor 8-22

Unfortunately, Speaker John Boehner cannot "fire" Attorney General Eric Holder or any of President Barack Obama's regime.

He certainly cannot fire any of President Obama's czars, and the czars are the ones doing the most damage.

Unfortunately, Sen. Harry Reid has too much control over the Senate and is not allowing Senate votes on major Congressional issues that affect us all.

Sen. Reid is more concerned with protecting the president's back than his sworn Constitutional responsibilities to protect the interests of "We the People" of the United States of America.

Unfortunately, Congress thinks it is more important to take a summer vacation than to resolve the many extremely important issues, stock-piled and on hold awaiting immediate action.

Unfortunately, we cannot rely on information being reported by most of the mainstream media -- what journalistic oath?

Unfortunately, President Obama has steadily diminished both himself and the office he holds. Has the president given any thought to how he is to unite and lead our country should he win in November, given the character of the campaign he is waging?

It is remarkable what a fear of defeat and loss of power can do to a man -- lies, deception and how low can he go? How does he resolve the financial crisis at the end of the year?

The long and short of it is "We the People" are "ska-rooed." But it didn't start with President Obama; it started a long time ago, back when the first American became complacent and paid no attention to the first encroachments on our freedoms.

Can the United States of America and its Constitution be saved? I would definitely like to say yes.

However, we certainly cannot save this country by voting for liberals and RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) or by not voting at all.

Come on Ohio, spend some time now to prepare yourselves, know and select the leadership required to restore our nation to its greatness again.

Ohio is a very important swing state -- let's make a difference in the future of our children and grandchildren. Vote smart in November.

Bobbie Sigmond

Wadsworth

Tax dollars could be better spent

Editor:

Is it me or is there something terribly wrong at Wooster City Hall? It seems as if common sense is nowhere to be found. Why is our mayor threatening the safety of our community by laying off police officers and firefighters if the voters of our community don't approve a tax increase ( May 20 edition ) that hasn't even been put on the ballot? The finance director stated in the July 14 edition income tax revenue was up 25 percent over the same period last year. Possibly the administration is a bit premature in stating the need to raise taxes.

The mayor stated in the May 20 edition, "You either raise revenue or you cut expenses." This being the case, then why would the Wooster Growth Corp., chaired by our mayor, deny a loan to a cutting edge industry in our community that could provide new jobs and additional revenue? ( July 5 edition)

Further consideration for increased revenue might be given to the elimination of the earned income tax credit. In an email from the finance director in February of this year he stated the city failed to realize a total of $3,806,812.90 in earned income tax from 2006 through 2010.

In the June 7 edition our finance director unveiled a snapshot of the city's first quarter finances. Even though expenditures were down compared to the previous year the city was still running a slight deficit.

With a lack of revenue, why is City Council spending our tax dollars (Aug. 14) on beautification projects to the tune of $121,000? Only Councilman Mark Cavin had enough common sense to vote no. "This is a good use of our tax dollars" said Councilman David Silvestri. Really? More important than preserving the strength of our safety services?

In the July 12 edition there was a story revealing the respondents to a survey preferred police and fire protection to parks and recreation. Are you serious? How much money was spent to unveil this revelation?

Most recently council is considering appropriating another $50,000 to, as Councilman Jon Ansel stated at a recent meeting, "improve the public awareness and understanding of the current financial state of affairs for the city of Wooster." I would suggest the public's awareness of the city's finances is enough to know our tax dollars could be much better spent.